Sunderland’s Class Of 2025/2026 Are The Immortals
· Yahoo Sports
All my life, I’ve been searching for something,
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Something never comes, never leads to nothing…
The opening lines of the Foo Fighters’ 2002 single All My Life (released, coincidentally, at a time when Sunderland were entering a major downturn that culminated in relegation to the second tier under Mick McCarthy) have often felt like an appropriate accompaniment to the trials and tribulations of supporting this crazy, beautiful, unique football club.
Optimism. Frustration. A periodic sense of “what might’ve been” and occasionally the humiliation that accompanies the implosions that we’ve all witnessed over the years. Sometimes we get it right; often we get it wrong, and although our faith can be shaken, the love of the red and white is what endures — through near-misses, promotions, relegations and everything in between.
However, on a gloriously sunny and truly historic Sunday at the Stadium of Light on May 24 2026, all of the negative emotions were washed away on a tide of disbelief, togetherness and the kind of optimism that envelops our club once in a generation.
The stadium crackled with rampant, unrestrained energy; the football was high-impact and high octane, and the Lads — for the final time this season — showed why they’re here to stay and why they can no longer be damned with faint praise by those who either by choice, wilful ignorance or because they’re on the outside looking in, don’t get it.
Sunderland AFC. Europa League. Sunderland AFC. Europa League.
Is this real? Yes. Are we dreaming? No. We’re not.
When the final whistle blew on Sunday, with Chelsea vanquished and the other results of the day going the way we wanted, the impossible became possible and the Lads had delivered European football for the first time in over half a century.
There was a huddle. The news filtered through and the players erupted with joy, taking 40,000 fans with them. A genuine “I was there moment” and another astonishing turn of events at the end of an utterly intoxicating twelve-month period that in my view, surpasses August 1998 to May 1999 and casts a giant shadow over Niall Quinn and Roy Keane’s ‘magic carpet ride’ of 2006/2007.
During the course of the season, as results occasionally fluctuated, there were some (myself included — guilty as charged, your honour) who were adamant that the European dream would remain something that occupied the realms of fantasy; a secret we’d never truly unlock despite showing ample promise on our return to the Premier League.
Not for the first time in my Sunderland-supporting lifetime, I was wrong. Emphatically, absurdly, comically wrong. And boy, will I own that with pride.
For those of us who are creeping towards middle age and hold memories of Peter Reid’s teams and Keane’s promotion winners dear to our hearts, this was something iconic.
For supporters who might’ve been fortunate enough to witness the glory of 1973, it’s a new memory to add to a lifetime of memories. For younger fans, it’s something utterly unprecedented and a turn of events that they’ll be able to spend the entire summer basking in the glory of, recalling the 2025/2026 season with unbridled joy during those long, lazy days before the new season kicks off.
In the weeks to come, efforts will be made to make sense of what we’ve witnessed and to somehow sum up this utterly thrilling campaign in words. Will we succeed? Are our sentiments inadequate? Perhaps, but even if they are, the stories really do write themselves.
Luke O’Nien, absolutely immovable on Sunday and from League One to European football in eight remarkable years.
Granit Xhaka, the totem of this team, signed from Bayer Leverkusen to spearhead the red and white charge, with his iconic status on Wearside now secured for ever and day.
Elsewhere, how about Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra and Brian Brobbey? Young prospects who made the switch to Wearside and will now have the chance to showcase their talents on a European stage in a red and white jersey. At the back, Robin Roefs, Omar Alderete, Lutsharel Geertuida, Reinildo and Nordi Mukiele are elite defensive operators who’ve fitted in utterly seamlessly. And so it goes on. And on.
And for Régis Le Bris, the quietly-spoken Frenchman who arrived as a wildcard in the summer of 2024, what vindication, what an achievement and what a stellar job he’s done in order to guide Sunderland onto this plateau.
Our greatest modern head coach? For me, yes. This is a monumental achievement, one for which he should rightly be lauded, and he’s done so after blending a diverse, likeable and immensely skilful group of players into one cohesive unit.
The stories of this campaign are legion; the iconic moments have been many and the individuals that make up this incredible chapter are now immortal.
Indeed, Sunderland’s opening goal, scored by Trai Hume after a flick from O’Nien, had shades of Steve Bould and Tony Adams for Arsenal all those years ago: two club stalwarts linking up to make a valuable contribution during a big game — and that truly summed it all up.
To claim this season has represented a mere statement of intent from our club is to grossly undersell it.
Newcastle’s own dismal campaign, encompassing two derby losses and a mediocre lower mid-table finish (cheers, Nick, we owe you one — but maybe keep working on those defensive headers, eh?), might’ve made our own success even feel sweeter, but on merit, this is an absolutely landmark achievement for Sunderland AFC and the thought of European football under the lights and trips to far-flung places next season should be enough to keep us excited during the offseason.
A process that really kicked into a higher gear when Patrick Roberts made a darting near post run to meet Jack Clarke’s cross at Hillsborough in 2022 has now elevated our club into territory that few of us could’ve imagined we’d ever occupy.
Those no longer at the club yet who played their own parts in the story — Dan Neil, Clarke, Roberts, Jobe, Alex Neil, Tommy Watson, Anthony Patterson, Danny Batth, Lynden Gooch, Elliot Embleton and others — deserve to be remembered and praised, and Sunderland’s class of 2025/2026 can stand proudly, safe in the knowledge that their achievement of bringing continental football to Wearside will occupy a unique place in our history.
They genuinely did it for us.